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Luke 11 V1 V3 V5 V7 V11 V13 V15 V17 V19 V21 V23 V25 V27 V29 V31 V33 V35 V37 V39 V41 V43 V45 V47 V49 V51 V53
OET (OET-LV) And_I am_saying to_you_all:
Be_requesting, and it_will_be_being_given to_you_all, be_seeking, and you_all_will_be_finding, be_knocking, and it_will_be_being_opened_up to_you_all.
OET (OET-RV) So this is what I’m telling you: Keep submitting your requests and it’ll be given to you all, keep searching and you’ll all find what you’re looking for, keep knocking and the door will be opened for you all,
There are four paragraphs in this section. In each paragraph, Jesus taught his disciples something about prayer.
Some other headings for this section are:
Jesus’ Teaching on Prayer (NIV)
Jesus Teaches About Prayer (NCV)
There are parallel passages for this section in Matthew 6:9–13 and 7:7–11.
In this paragraph, Jesus told his disciples what he wanted them to conclude from his story in the previous paragraph. They should conclude: “We should ask God for the things we need, and he will give them to us.” Jesus restated this in three ways.
Luke 11:9–10 has almost the same words as Matthew 7:7–8, and they mean the same thing.
So I tell you:
¶ “So I tell you:(plur)
¶ “For this reason I say to you:(plur)
So: The Greek conjunction that the BSB translates as So here introduces the application or conclusion of the story in the previous paragraph. Some ways to show this are:
That is why
Therefore
In other languages, no conjunction is necessary.
I tell you: The Greek phrase that the BSB here translates as I tell you is almost the same Greek phrase as “I tell you” in 11:8a. The only difference is that here Jesus emphasized the word I. Jesus often used this phrase in order to emphasize what he was about to say.
Ask, and it will be given to you;
Request/Ask(plur), and you will get/receive.
Ask God for what you(plur) need. If you(plur) do, he will give it to you(plur).
Ask: In the New Testament, the Greek verb that the BSB translates as Ask frequently refers to prayer. Here, it also refers to asking God for something when praying. In some languages, it may be necessary to make this explicit.
It may also be necessary to say what we should ask for. The context of 11:1–13 implies that a disciple of Jesus should ask God for the things he needs. So if you need to supply this information you could say:
Ask God for whatever you need
Jesus was speaking to his disciples, so this verb is plural.
and it will be given to you: The Greek verb that the BSB translates as will be given is a passive verb. Some ways to translate this verb are:
As a passive verb. For example:
and you will be given what you ask for (NLT96)
As an active verb. If it is necessary to say who will give, the implied subject is God. For example:
and you(plur) will receive what you ask for (NLT)
and God will give it to you
Translate this verb in a way that is most natural in your language.
seek, and you will find;
Search/look(plur) and you(plur) will find.
Search(plur) from God for the things that you(plur) need, and you(plur) will find/receive them.
This is the second way to say that when we ask God for the things we need, he will give them to us.
seek, and you will find: The verb seek means to “search” or “look” for something. This is a figure of speech. It compares “asking God for something” to “searching for it.” It also compares “God answering the prayer” to “the person finding/receiving” what he was searching for.
If the meaning of this figure of speech will not be clear in your language, you may need to supply some information. For example:
seek from God what you need, and you will get/obtain it
seek from God whatever you need, and he will provide it for you
knock, and the door will be opened to you.
Knock(plur) on the door, and it will be opened for you(plur) to enter.
Knock/tap(plur) on the door to ask God to help you, and God will open it so you(plur) can enter and receive his help.
Call(plur) out to God, and he will respond to you(plur).
knock, and the door will be opened to you: This is also a figure of speech. It compares asking God for something to knocking on a door. The image of God opening the door means that he responds favorably to the person’s request. In some languages it may be necessary to make explicit where a person should knock, and who would open it. For example:
knock on the door, and God will open the door to let you enter
To knock is a cultural gesture. In the Jewish culture, someone arriving at someone else’s home would knock on the door to announce that he was there. But in some cultures, people do not knock on the door. They call or cough or announce in some other way that they have arrived. If the custom of knocking on a door is not understood in your area, you may:
Make explicit the meaning of the gesture. For example:
Knock on the door to ask for God’s help, and he will open the door so that you can enter and receive his help.
Use a gesture that has the right meaning in your area. For example:
Call out to God, and he will cause you to enter and help you.
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / you
ὑμῖν λέγω & ὑμῖν & εὑρήσετε & ὑμῖν
˱to˲_you_all ˓am˒_saying & ˱to˲_you_all & ˱you_all˲_˓will_be˒_finding & ˱to˲_you_all
In the first instance in this verse, you is plural because Jesus is speaking to the disciples. In the next three instances, even though Jesus is describing what could be an individual situation of a person praying to God, you is also plural because Jesus is still speaking to the disciples as a group.
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
αἰτεῖτε & ζητεῖτε
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Κἀγώ ὑμῖν λέγω Αἰτεῖτε καί δοθήσεται ὑμῖν ζητεῖτε καί εὑρήσετε κρούετε καί ἀνοιγήσεται ὑμῖν)
It might be customary in your language to say what a person would be asking for and seeking, and from whom. Alternate translation: [keep asking God for what you need … keep seeking what you need from God]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive
δοθήσεται ὑμῖν
˱it˲_˓will_be_being˒_given ˱to˲_you_all
If it would be helpful in your language, you could express this with an active form, and you could state who will do the action. Alternate translation: [God will give it to you] or [you will receive it]
Note 4 topic: translate-unknown
κρούετε
˓be˒_knocking
To knock at a door means to hit it a few times to let a person inside the house know you are standing outside. You could translate this expression with the way people in your culture show that they have arrived at a house, such as “call out” or “cough” or “clap.”
Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
κρούετε
˓be˒_knocking
Jesus is using the expression knock to mean getting someone’s attention. Alternate translation: [seek God’s attention in prayer] or [let God know you are depending on him]
Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive
ἀνοιγήσεται ὑμῖν
˱it˲_˓will_be_being˒_opened_up ˱to˲_you_all
If it would be helpful in your language, you could express this with an active form, and you could state who will do the action. Alternate translation: [God will open the door for you] or [God will welcome you inside]
Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
ἀνοιγήσεται ὑμῖν
˱it˲_˓will_be_being˒_opened_up ˱to˲_you_all
This phrase continues the metaphor of prayer as knocking on a door. Alternate translation: [God will give you what you need] or [God will enable you to do what you are praying about]
OET (OET-LV) And_I am_saying to_you_all:
Be_requesting, and it_will_be_being_given to_you_all, be_seeking, and you_all_will_be_finding, be_knocking, and it_will_be_being_opened_up to_you_all.
OET (OET-RV) So this is what I’m telling you: Keep submitting your requests and it’ll be given to you all, keep searching and you’ll all find what you’re looking for, keep knocking and the door will be opened for you all,
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.